Clear the mind with exercise, meditation, better sleep and diet Your habits and lifestyle choices may be to blame for your tiredness, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness and even your pain. Exercise, balanced diet, sleep and relaxation are essential for our physical and mental well being. It is so easy to not factor these essential elements into our lives as we become busier and lack a healthy work life balance. Technology has made us more connected with the outside world, leaving us … [Read more...] about Brain Detox
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Intoeing in Toddlers
Intoeing is a common finding in babies and toddlers. In newborns, turning in of the front of the foot can be due to the way the baby was lying in the mother's womb. It resolves spontaneously in the majority of children but stretches to the forefoot are often helpful. In more severe cases a light plaster cast can be applied for a few weeks, to keep the foot in a neutral position. In toddlers, intoeing is often associated with internal rotation of the tibia (or shin bone). This presents as bow … [Read more...] about Intoeing in Toddlers
Knee Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis affects more than 1.3 million Australians. The main underlying feature is the loss of or damage to cartilage tissue, needed for easy joint movement. Cartilage loss can be affected by mechanical, biochemical and genetic factors. In advanced stages, the space between the joint decreases, accelerating joint damage and pain. Structural damages of the joint can be observed on x-ray but symptoms can be present without radiological changes, just as changes that appear on x-ray may not … [Read more...] about Knee Osteoarthritis
Child Back Pain
Three habits that are causing your school child's back pain Mihiri Udabage. Feb 25 2016 at 11:54 AM Just two weeks into the new school term and Sarah*, 13, has an appointment with the physiotherapist. Her lower back has been aching on and off for the past couple of weeks and it's not getting better. "It mostly hurts when I'm sitting down," reports Sarah. The Year 8 student can't recall any particular incident when she might have incurred an injury. "It just … [Read more...] about Child Back Pain
Hip pain – It’s not always bursitis
The most common cause of pain in the hip and lateral thigh area, is due to degenerative tears of the deep muscles of the hip (the rotator cuff muscles of the hip). This is commonly known as Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome. Bursitis is frequently implicated but is usually not the primary cause of pain. It is usually secondary to degenerative changes in muscles and tendons, namely gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Pathology in these muscles is usually associated with some other … [Read more...] about Hip pain – It’s not always bursitis
Chronic Ankle Instability
Sprains to the lateral ligaments of the ankle are responsible for more time lost from sports participation than any other injury, and the rate of the recurrence has been reported to be as high as 80%. Functional ankle instability is said to occur when the individual repeatedly feels their ankle ‘giving way’ without a specific mechanical cause. It can result from : Loss of proprioception. Errors in detecting ankle positions prior to ground contact, technically termed proprioceptive deficit, … [Read more...] about Chronic Ankle Instability
Taking a Stand on Sitting
"Sitting is the new smoking" is a phrase that has taken the internet by storm for some time now. Indeed, most people know that sitting for lengthy periods each day is not ideal - its effect likened to that of smoking in terms of how it can negatively impact our health overtime. Safe Work Australia (SWA) reminds us that sitting is a sedentary behaviour which slows metabolism and results in the pooling of blood, thereby implicating blood pressure, blood glucose levels and overall cardiovascular … [Read more...] about Taking a Stand on Sitting
Paediatric Physiotherapy
Developmental Milestones in Infants This is the term used to describe the sequence of motor skills acquisition in each child as they learn to move their body against gravity. This is a very general reference and there is a wide age range within each milestone which is considered normal. Development is multifactorial and so does not always follow the same path. For example cultural differences can make a difference. In some countries it is not normal to leave babies on the floor to play which … [Read more...] about Paediatric Physiotherapy
The Grumbling Shoulder
Get the Balance Right – The importance of the scapula and rotator cuff muscles in shoulder movement Chronic shoulder problems often occur because of imbalance of shoulder muscle activity caused by incorrect exercising and poor posture. Effective coordinated movement of the shoulder complex requires a certain balance of strength between the large prime mover muscles and the smaller stabilising muscles. Most chronic shoulder problems result from poor function of these smaller rotator cuff … [Read more...] about The Grumbling Shoulder
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain affects 17% of males and 20% of females in NSW and in a significant proportion of these people, it will impact on their daily lives. Major advances have been made in our understanding of pain in the last 40 years. It is now widely accepted that pain is a multi-dimensional experience. Major advances have revealed that not only are afferent nerve impulses modulated in the spinal cord, but by regions of the brain that regulate attention, emotion and memory. In essence this means … [Read more...] about Chronic Pain